The Cross Matters

NOTES FROM A SERMON PRESENTED BY DR. GREG SLOOP AT THE KANNAPOLIS CHURCH OF GOD ON SUNDAY, September 16, 2018 IN THE 10:30 AM SERVICE. FOR VIDEO OF SERVICES, GO TO THE CHURCH WEBSITE, HTTP://WWW.KCOG.ORG, AND CLICK ON THE LIVESTREAM LINK FOR A REPLAY OF THE SERVICES. FOR AUDIO OF THE SERVICES, GO THE THE WEBSITE AND CLICK ON THE MEDIA PAGE.

Come, and see the victories of the cross. Christ’s wounds are thy healings, His agonies thy repose, His conflicts thy conquests, His groans thy songs, His pains thine ease, His shame thy glory, His death thy life, His sufferings thy salvation.__Matthew Henry

I. The Primacy of the Cross
Not Baptism, Not Preaching of Wisdom

1 Corinthians 1:17–25 (NKJV)
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

“But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”―The Apostle Paul in Galatians 6:14

II. The Power of the Cross
Not Wisdom, Not Understanding (Knowledge, Logic)

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”

“Life is wasted if we do not grasp the glory of the cross, cherish it for the treasure that it is, and cleave to it as the highest price of every pleasure and the deepest comfort in every pain. What was once foolishness to us—a crucified God—must become our wisdom and our power and our only boast in this world.”― John Piper

In Jesus Christ on the Cross there is refuge; there is safety; there is shelter; and all the power of sin upon our track cannot reach us when we have taken shelter under the Cross that atones for our sins.__A. C. Dixon

III. The Puzzle of the Cross
Stumbling Block? Foolishness? No, Power and Wisdom of God

20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

“The most obscene symbol in human history is the Cross; yet in its ugliness it remains the most eloquent testimony to human dignity.”― R.C. Sproul

IV. The Price of the Cross
The Precious Life of Christ

We owed a debt we could not pay…
…He paid a debt He did not owe. __Ellis J. Crum

You paid much too high a price for me: Your tears, your blood, the pain
To have my soul just stirred at times yet never truly changed
You deserve a fiery love that won’t ignore your sacrifice
Because you paid much too high a price. __Larnelle Harris

A Price Was Paid, A Life Was Given
A Debt Was Satisfied!
A People Killed Him, The Lamb Was Slain,
and The Savior Saved Mankind. __Greg Sloop

The Price of Salvation was paid for you!

So much has been said about the Cross, especially about what it cost God in the price of His Son, what it cost Jesus in the giving of His life

“Though justification costs us nothing but the sacrifice of our pride, it has cost Christ His blood.”― F.B. Meyer